I had to come to grips with the lack of RPG mechanics, but I think From have created a masterpiece. The game being based on a specific character / weapon allowed them to make something incredibly focused while retaining signature From oddness, ambiguity, and intricate world design.

People saying the combat is just about parrying now have not mastered the combat. In practice, deflectionI had to come to grips with the lack of RPG mechanics, but I think From have created a masterpiece. The game being based on a specific character / weapon allowed them to make something incredibly focused while retaining signature From oddness, ambiguity, and intricate world design.

People saying the combat is just about parrying now have not mastered the combat. In practice, deflection works pretty differently than parrying in Dark Souls. There's so much more nuance to the combat now, from crowd control options, when to jump, dodge, block or deflect, move interruptions, combat arts, combos with prosthetic attachments good against certain enemies, etc. The posture system alone makes it completely different than Dark Souls. You can not play it like those games even if it seems like you can get away with it. If you're playing well you will be aggressive, attacking often and performing very deliberate moves against specific enemies.

Once the combat clicked I was amazed at how fluid and fun it can be, and that a lot of tough enemies can be taken down pretty quickly if you play well. One thing it does have in common with Souls is that the longer a boss stays alive, the harder it is to deal with. And like Dark Souls it's a difficult game because it wants you to learn how to play it right, and execution in Sekiro is even more challenging, and even more satisfying than From's other games.…Expand

Sekiro shares some "from software feeling" with Dark Souls, but is very different. The emphasis is on learning how to fight with the katana, blocking, deflecting, dodging and countering attacks. As you progress through the game you learn new techniques which you can apply in the correct situation. Stealth allows you to get an advantage before starting the fight and provides some welcomeSekiro shares some "from software feeling" with Dark Souls, but is very different. The emphasis is on learning how to fight with the katana, blocking, deflecting, dodging and countering attacks. As you progress through the game you learn new techniques which you can apply in the correct situation. Stealth allows you to get an advantage before starting the fight and provides some welcome down time.
The prosthetic arm gives you acces to a bunch of tools and tricks like a grappling hook, axe, spear, shuriken, fire, ....
There is a good amount of exploration, which gets rewarded as you find new items. The grappling hook makes the game very up/down, a dimension not fully used in Dark Souls games.

Graphics are beautiful and gameplay is very well thought out. The setting and background information about ninjutsu/martial arts (techniques / weapons / tools / ... are very well researched. The game is extremely optimized and runs super smooth.…Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Apparently Miyazaki didn't think he could refine the Dark Souls formula anymore, so he chose to deconstruct it instead. Sekiro is all about the removal of variety. Do you enjoy pure magic/ranged builds? They're gone. Do you prefer to be more agile or more tanky? You get to be agile, period. Do you like acquiring/customizing/upgrading weapons and armor? Too bad, they're gone. Do you like duels with other players or co-op with your friends? All multiplayer features are gone.

So what do you get to do now? You get to parry (deflect) all the things! Yay! Wait, I could play like that in Souls games too. Well, now it's the ONLY way to play! Yaaaaay! You also get a jump button so you can jump over sweeping attacks. Except when none of those things work.

You see, there are two bosses in the game, with different skins on them. The first one is the boss whose posture you can break. You beat this boss by standing absolutely still wherever you want, it doesn't matter where, and you play the s****y rhythm game where you press L1, A or B until he gets sick of it and falls over and lets you stab him in the face. The second boss is the one that breaks your posture if he sneezes in your general direction, regardless of what you are doing. You beat this boss by running around and waiting for him to finish his 20 second long mad flails of 1-shot attacks until you get an opening to go in and hit him once for 0.2% of his HP. Rinse and repeat. Honorable mention goes to a third category of boss, the one where the person who designed it was forgotten in a cubicle somewhere for the last 3 years and still thinks he is making a Souls game, so he sets the fight in a 2x2 room with a 6 foot tall ceiling where the objective is to get the camera unstuck from the corner where it's stuck after you gently touched the thumbstick, which made Sekiro dart across the room and slam into a wall, because he moves at 10 times the speed in this game.

Also note: If one of those two bosses seems too hard for you, that's probably because you missed a prosthetic arm tool, sold by a midget dressed in grey rags, crouched behind a grey rock on the side of a grey mountain, who spawns only after you talk to a totally different guy in another place and timeline altogether about something completely irrelevant. This prosthetic arm tool is specifically designed to trivialize that one boss fight and is useless for anything else. Lovely.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: Dark Souls the Anime is an excellent game with exceptional, finely tuned combat and great level design that lets it stand above the rest of From Software's already outstanding catalouge. 10/10

So much anticipation yet so much disappointment. It's decent game, especially if you're willing to wait for a sale, however it really doesn't live up to a hype it got.

Pros:
- Story and lore - tho I'm not fan of direct storytelling. I preferred Bloodborne and Dark Souls storytelling where you have dig deep to figure out what's going on and why, but it's good enough,
- Good musicSo much anticipation yet so much disappointment. It's decent game, especially if you're willing to wait for a sale, however it really doesn't live up to a hype it got.

Pros:
- Story and lore - tho I'm not fan of direct storytelling. I preferred Bloodborne and Dark Souls storytelling where you have dig deep to figure out what's going on and why, but it's good enough,
- Good music score, not on the level of DS3 or BB, but fits the setting very well, builds tension and does other things good music score supposed to do.
- Level design - it's just great, high versatility, a lot of things to discover, use environment to your advantage
- challenge and difficulty - here they did not **** up. It will put you to the test like hell.

Cons:
- Combat is just not good for one simple reason. Everything is based on breaking posture by spamming attack (on weaker enemies) or deflecting and countering stronger enemies - rinse and repeat, it's just tedious and boring. On some rare occasion you can get leverage with one of special tools you unlock - but that's about it.
- Character building is very simplistic, basically on the level of older Assassin's Creed games - find thing X to unlock tool, plus you have few skills to unlock at your disposal - that's it. There are no weapons to find, no armor to find - all the loot are upgrade components and consumables - which feels just very linear without any impactful decision making.
-Graphics look dated, tho some of the artstyle is pretty good and there are some weird fps drops out of thin air (I suspect it has something to do with poor LOD and texture streaming), no ultra-wide support, game doesn't tolerate 2nd monitor and will cut performance severely until you unplug it, there are also some issues on Intel CPUs where having turbo boost enabled hinders performance severely - so pretty mediocre PC port to say the least.
- Can't see any replay value (except maybe speed running) - because as I mentioned there is not enough diversity in character building (you won't make a different build to enjoy different combat experience - everything is just to thin and basic), there is no online component (so obviously no pvp) - there is just nothing worthwhile for a second playthrough to be seen.

So yeah, don't believe all those 9s and 10s out of 10. The game is nowhere near on the brilliance of Dark Souls or Bloodborne. It feels like watered down and streamlined action game with very little diversity and choice making at your disposal. If not technical issues and piss poor PC port lacking basic features that should be standard in 2019, I'd give it 7/10, but with technical issues and other problems I mentioned in cons section - 6/10 is max I can rate it. Note: 6/10 means it's a pretty decent game but with some problems. See the difference is - for IGN and other crap outlets, 6/10 is equal to garbage game - personally I utilize full scale and thus it means it's not bad game at all - more like disappointing a bit.

Shame on me for riding the hype train and buying this day one. I knew this wasn't a Dark Souls game, but I still had hopes that it would have that From Software game-play. It kind of does, but it doesn't. They got rid of stamina, neutered dodge rolling, and made parrying the name of the game. I personally find it super tedious and just... not fun. Furthermore, this is the only play-styleShame on me for riding the hype train and buying this day one. I knew this wasn't a Dark Souls game, but I still had hopes that it would have that From Software game-play. It kind of does, but it doesn't. They got rid of stamina, neutered dodge rolling, and made parrying the name of the game. I personally find it super tedious and just... not fun. Furthermore, this is the only play-style available to you the whole game. I do not find this appealing and it felt like I was playing a generic action title.

I also didn't enjoy the world that the game took place in... just kind of samey and boring. Stealth felt tacked on. I just felt bored by the whole ordeal and could not press on...

I'm happy people are enjoying it, but unfortunately it's not for me. Bummer.…Expand

I love DS series - it is one of best series of the games ever. But Sakito is unplayable for me - sorry, but I do not have cyborg reflexes. And I do not care about it is hard, because must be hard and other bla-bla. I know what is hard game very well. It is something wrong with Sekiro: I saw good speed-runners who have real problems with this game, too. WTF From Software, whats wrong? It isI love DS series - it is one of best series of the games ever. But Sakito is unplayable for me - sorry, but I do not have cyborg reflexes. And I do not care about it is hard, because must be hard and other bla-bla. I know what is hard game very well. It is something wrong with Sekiro: I saw good speed-runners who have real problems with this game, too. WTF From Software, whats wrong? It is poor, rushed developed action slasher!

Refund.

BTW: PC port is awful, simply terribly, eg. I have many fps, no delay on screen, but input lag is real and exist. How to beat this kind of game with input lag? Please, From Software, tell me how do it, I will be grateful!

Now I begin to understand why Sekiro has a new publisher.

I registered on MetaCritic only to say how I am deeply disappointment.…Expand

Too fast for a souls game though it's not a souls game supposedly. You can literally jump around to the bosses directly in 2 min like you have a speed hack. Doesn't have the same atmosphere as souls have, items etc more convoluted, or too simplified.

I rate this product with 0 mark, because of a huge frustration and disappointment which this game gave me. I beated all the parts of the dark souls series many times, but suckkiro is way too hard for me. The game counstantly holds you in a hard tension and concentration. Two hours in this game feels like I have played 24 hours. This is not a game already its more like some kind of a humanI rate this product with 0 mark, because of a huge frustration and disappointment which this game gave me. I beated all the parts of the dark souls series many times, but suckkiro is way too hard for me. The game counstantly holds you in a hard tension and concentration. Two hours in this game feels like I have played 24 hours. This is not a game already its more like some kind of a human performance test. I dont like parryng **** in dark souls and I never used it. Sekiro - the whole f game is parrying, wtf FROM? No balance, ordinary enemys are worthless, but boss battles are completely impossible. You can die from one shot easely and this is expectable and acceptable, but its not when bosses have tons of hp.…Expand

Very boring. Controls sucks. No quick saves. Why I need to respawn again and again from check point If i cant kill your dumb boss because my retarded character can not block his hits??? Very frustrating.

Most criticisms are about the game being difficult and not being a Dark Souls. And the game really is not a Dark Souls, if you think this you are very wrong, it does have elements of Dark Souls, but it should be evaluated as a different game.
Pros: The game's combat is great and works great, with Sekiro's hook all gotten too wide. The artificial intelligence of enemies is great since theyMost criticisms are about the game being difficult and not being a Dark Souls. And the game really is not a Dark Souls, if you think this you are very wrong, it does have elements of Dark Souls, but it should be evaluated as a different game.
Pros: The game's combat is great and works great, with Sekiro's hook all gotten too wide. The artificial intelligence of enemies is great since they can do just about anything you can do against them. You feel that you are evolving every moment and every defeated enemy is really a sense of victory. You can face enemies in a variety of ways: either on stealf, taking out your HP or breaking your posture.
Cons: The story is not very interesting but it's still good. Some enemies are powerful enough to even give you hit kill, frustrating enough you make a single mistake and die. The "dragon disease" caused after you die sometimes is very appealing, having to spend an item every time it happens (several times), but sometimes you do not even notice the difference, you should have thought of another way to punish yourself after the death. The bosses are not as interesting as FromSoftware is customary to do and some Mini Bosses are repeated, except that some Mini Bosses are more powerful than the bosses themselves, which makes no sense at all.…Expand

This game is fantastic. From Software done it again with something new and kind of revolutionary in a way just like they did with the Souls series.

I love everything about this game the Combat the upgrading system the world design and the atmosphere all are quality and beautifully made. The graphics are really good and still good optimized but I have to be honest the optimization couldThis game is fantastic. From Software done it again with something new and kind of revolutionary in a way just like they did with the Souls series.

I love everything about this game the Combat the upgrading system the world design and the atmosphere all are quality and beautifully made. The graphics are really good and still good optimized but I have to be honest the optimization could have been a bit better.

The more of an open-world design is great and gives you a lot more freedom in the game, you can approach your enemies from many direction which is really important.

There are no builds or weapons nor armor to choose from and yet this game has managed to be deep and a joy to play.

Everything is made and balanced for and around your sword. By getting better as a samurai you will not find this game unfair.

From Software always knows how to balance their games unlike all the souls ripoff games that has come the last few years, even Nioh failed badly by being a trashy unbalanced game with lots of gimmicks in its mechanics.

The thing that I wish were different is the death system is that, It would have been a lot better if it was like Bloodborne. When you die you have to go back and kill the one that killed you to receive your stuff back.…Expand

Excellent game, with probably the best melee system of any action-adventure game.
Challenging, fast and beautiful.
Nice characters and good story.
A LOT of mini-bosses.
Not that full of options like previous FromSoft games (weapons, outfits, builds, etc) but still and amazing game.
Also, final boss it's WAY too difficult. In my opinion it's out of proportion compared to the restExcellent game, with probably the best melee system of any action-adventure game.
Challenging, fast and beautiful.
Nice characters and good story.
A LOT of mini-bosses.

Not that full of options like previous FromSoft games (weapons, outfits, builds, etc) but still and amazing game.

Also, final boss it's WAY too difficult. In my opinion it's out of proportion compared to the rest of bosses.…Expand

Beat it two days after release and I am now on NG+4, and I must say it is another solid entry by From Software. Sure, sometimes From throws a lot of enemies into mini-bosses to increase difficulty in a very cheap way, but it's not like it's not like manageable (except for a couple occasions which I genuinely don't like). They did remove armor sets and other weapons that could be obtainedBeat it two days after release and I am now on NG+4, and I must say it is another solid entry by From Software. Sure, sometimes From throws a lot of enemies into mini-bosses to increase difficulty in a very cheap way, but it's not like it's not like manageable (except for a couple occasions which I genuinely don't like). They did remove armor sets and other weapons that could be obtained like in Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but I usually fought with no armor for max movement and a few +10 weapons in those games anyway, that's just how I played. it may hinder replayability somewhat but it doesn't bother me all that much. Speaking of replayability, there is still plenty of it, contrary to what some negative reviewers are saying. There are 4 endings total, with several bosses only accessible through certain ending paths. There are also sidequests that can be taken, as usual for a From game. Prothetics are a nice addition, but some of them are either very useful (firecrackers, firecrackers, and firecrackers) and some very situational (hand axe, loaded umbrella, and malcontent). Some negative reviewers have said the parry-based combat is repetitive, but isn't Souls combat where you have to roll constantly to dodge attacks also repetitive? I feel as if some people are just mad because it isn't a by-the-books Souls game, but perhaps it isn't a Souls game at all, so maybe you shouldn't judge it as such.

There are other factors that I didn't touch on, such as bosses, characters, world, and lore, which are all superb, however the music was a little lacking this time around. There were tracks I liked (menu music, Corrupted Monk fight music, final boss music, and most of the general exploration and combat music was good), but a lot of the other ones were not bad, per se, but more forgettable compared to other From Soft games.

I would give this game a solid 8.5, but user reviews only support whole numbers so I'll round it up to a 9 (I'll actually give it a 10 to counter some of these ignorant bad reviews). Awesome game, check this game out if you like action games or are a Souls-like enthusiast. Definitely in my top 3 for best Souls games.…Expand

First of all my real score for this game is a solid 9/10. Why did I rate it 10?
Well after reading some weird 0/10 reviews and reasons behind it, I had no choice.
The review:
- Solid, very satisfying gameplay and mechanics. Being able to stealth, grapple trought the envirement or rushing some trash mobs is realy fun and amusing. (Also, you can swim!!!)
- Typical FromSoft story,First of all my real score for this game is a solid 9/10. Why did I rate it 10?
Well after reading some weird 0/10 reviews and reasons behind it, I had no choice.

The review:
- Solid, very satisfying gameplay and mechanics. Being able to stealth, grapple trought the envirement or rushing some trash mobs is realy fun and amusing. (Also, you can swim!!!)

- Typical FromSoft story, confusing but interesting and a couple of wtf moments as well as the know side quests. But some of those side quests could have been better tbh.

-Boss fights are good, hard, but good. Only minor point here is that sometimes bosses feel to recycled.

- Great music overall, but less compaired to what we are used to in DS and BB.

In general this is a well executed games, sure its not the same as BB or DS, but thats what they were going for. Do I miss some features from those previous games? Yes... I realy do. But it does not ruin the game at al. But yeah it has to be said, when it comes to replayability, Sekiro is kinda a bit of a let down.…Expand

From Software didn't disappoint like always. Just when i thought the combat couldn't get any more better they hit me with a variety of new tools and ways to resolve problems in game. The combat is fast paced and there are many ways to tackle the same enemy depending on how you want to play. The story is compelling and easily understandable unlike other games in soulsborne series.

OfFrom Software didn't disappoint like always. Just when i thought the combat couldn't get any more better they hit me with a variety of new tools and ways to resolve problems in game. The combat is fast paced and there are many ways to tackle the same enemy depending on how you want to play. The story is compelling and easily understandable unlike other games in soulsborne series.

Of course this game is not for everybody. You have to be very good at games to easily go through the plot and sometimes it can take hours to get 1 boss or mini-boss to lay down on the ground permanently, but when you finally do it, the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is unmatched by any other game, even in previous From Software titles.

Sekiro is the number 1 game for me this year: I loved the challenges of the combat and the learning curve troughout the game. Replayability for me comes in the form of beating bosses at the beginning with the knowledge of beating Isshin at the very end. Aside from that I really enjoyed the fact that you dont need to watch Vaatividya videos to understand the story, compared to other titlesSekiro is the number 1 game for me this year: I loved the challenges of the combat and the learning curve troughout the game. Replayability for me comes in the form of beating bosses at the beginning with the knowledge of beating Isshin at the very end. Aside from that I really enjoyed the fact that you dont need to watch Vaatividya videos to understand the story, compared to other titles it shows a clear line and you always know what to do and why to do it. I also do not agree that the game was to hard, statues were pretty much always before any boss, so I guess the learning by dying experience was wanted and was an outstanding challenge to master the art of beating a boss and still have heals available at the end. Only downside for me was the lack of ultrawide support - thats a bummer. Apart from that best game this year! Thanks for making this a reality From Software!…Expand

when starting Sekiro as a souls veteran who never felt shame in summoning or farming to get past the harder bits, it felt quite impossible to overcome the challenges provided in this game. 4 hours in i really wondered if i was ever gonna finish it. however, with persistance and patience anything becomes possible. This is the lesson Sekiro taught me. I am currently struggling on the finalwhen starting Sekiro as a souls veteran who never felt shame in summoning or farming to get past the harder bits, it felt quite impossible to overcome the challenges provided in this game. 4 hours in i really wondered if i was ever gonna finish it. however, with persistance and patience anything becomes possible. This is the lesson Sekiro taught me. I am currently struggling on the final boss, but in contrast to the feeling i had with the first boss of the game there is no doubt in my mind that i will finish it. I will stress that i am not a pro gamer, nor do i have much time to play (less than i want to anyway :)) Yes it is hard, very hard. but a slow 38 year old like me can still beat it if willing to learn the mechanics and getting used to it. The game requires faster reactions than the souls games, but if i can manage, most gamers will be able to, it all boils down to 1 thing: are you willing to learn, when it will take hundreds of deaths. If you are, than Sekiro is definitely for you. If you aren't, best avoid this game.

I gave it a 9 out of 10 because perfection doesnt exist and the graphics aren't god-like. but i am pretty enthousiastic about this game after breaking trough the frustration wall that is the first few hours of Sekiro.

Sekiro is a learning experience. not just learning the game, but learning about yourself and the strength of muscle memory. even if the first bosses gave me the feeling i was dying without learning anything, persist with Sekiro and you shall be rewarded with more than a credit-roll and a trophy. A true feeling of victory upon every challenge conquered and a biology masterclass about procedural/motor memory.…Expand

Amazing game play mechanics, beautiful world, awesome level design (as expected of from software) and interesting story... The cons? Locked frame rate and no 21:9 support, which can be fixed with community made mods. Its also very different from previous entries, so just because you liked X game doesn't mean you will automatically enjoy the game play of Sekiro, so don't expect it to beAmazing game play mechanics, beautiful world, awesome level design (as expected of from software) and interesting story... The cons? Locked frame rate and no 21:9 support, which can be fixed with community made mods. Its also very different from previous entries, so just because you liked X game doesn't mean you will automatically enjoy the game play of Sekiro, so don't expect it to be Dark Souls 4/Bloodborne 2, but let it stand as its own thing and you may consider it the best entry yet.…Expand

A players experience while in a game is very much what dictates how players feel about the over all adventure in conclusion. With that said there are those who will love and hate the experience based exclusively on how difficult the game can become.
Just how hard is this game?
The game is immensely difficult - Not just in the mechanics but in everything the player*The Experience*

A players experience while in a game is very much what dictates how players feel about the over all adventure in conclusion. With that said there are those who will love and hate the experience based exclusively on how difficult the game can become.

Just how hard is this game?

The game is immensely difficult - Not just in the mechanics but in everything the player must do to over come circumstances. Some of the best means to deal with an enemy is by defeating them head to head for loot which Incidentally is the item that you really needed. Sometimes you have to figure out another mission area that indirectly makes things slightly easier, usually after talking with an npc elsewhere. The trick however is no one is gonna know the optimal route to take for some skill points and some of the encounters do require some foot work to see to its completion such as collecting divine confetti, which your gonna need a ton of if going after some optional baddies.

I feel most whom play this game will likely put it away once they put in two dozen attempts against any average boss fight with little progress. The difficulty curve is so great that I almost feel From Software created this game really to create a cult classic of over the top challenges. In some ways it seems like they wanted to make this game insanely difficult to create a space for their own masterworks of difficulty.

What will be a shame is having all this beautiful content and no one to speak of it’s beauty cause only a fraction of the games players will have actually beaten any of its endings.

*Difficulty Aside from the review*

If Sekiro demands perfection from the player is designed to be fair then this is where I find it lacking.

The controls are so very sweet except boss enemy hitbox’s aren’t so acurrate. You’ll miss direct hits which could of been a win had they made contact. It is similar to other From Softs games but while feeling precise doesn’t always work out.

Many times while dodging or jumping you’ll still get hit by boss attacks - even if your following the rhyth perfectly. In some ways this feels sloppy since replicating the perfect action to avoid the damage is super tricky, as in need perfect timing throughout (Spacing, timing when to eat, and even especially jumping).

If Sekiro’s controls were perfected in a way that ensured the Wolf reacted as to not take needless damage then I could see From Soft saying it’s on you the player to figure it out - either way it’s on the player whether or not the game plays as fair as it intends.

*Overall Thoughts*

This game is insanely awesome once you try NG plus with some of the extra gear upgrades. Really, if the game allowed all the upgrades during the first play though and have options to earn them outside the boss fights I imagine thousands of players putting thousands of hours into the game.

The game is simply beautiful and deserves a play through - the question is will you have time for it or patience.

Regardless of decision playing in PC with this game is the only way to go, those 60 FPS will make the experience much sweeter overall.…Expand

This game is beautiful, still i think it missed more bosses and better zones but when I think it's a japanese based games, I realised that It dit pretty well, you just can't add a lot of monsters here, the game is crealy meant to be played as fights against humans.

I just opened up a metacritic account after seeing so many negative reviews for this game. In my opinion all those reviews come from the frustration of not being a souls game. To me this game's combat is much more fluid and varying than other soulsborne game but you have to learn to use the tools you have to enjoy combat completely instead of just dodge 2 hit or parry visceral like otherI just opened up a metacritic account after seeing so many negative reviews for this game. In my opinion all those reviews come from the frustration of not being a souls game. To me this game's combat is much more fluid and varying than other soulsborne game but you have to learn to use the tools you have to enjoy combat completely instead of just dodge 2 hit or parry visceral like other souls game. And for the same reason combat is much more demanding. The different counters and dodge mechanics seems much more sensible to me rather one button to abuse i-frames dodges in the other souls games. Yes, there are i-frames in dodges and jumps in this game but they are much shorter.
You cant have any other weapon than your katana as your main weapon but that is more than compensated by the prosthetics. So if you like fast paced combat rather than enemies throwing what ever they have in the air for you to dodge, you will find this to be better than other soulsborne games.
And the combat takes time to get used to. And specially if you are not ready to learn a new game when starting or expecting combat to be souls like you will find this game extremely hard and punishing for your muscle memory . But unlike other souls game this game is much more friendly to new players as this has a dedicated tutorial and a dedicated npc to practice your moves.
The only things i missed from other souls games is the character development and lack of pvp. Though the need for character development is somewhat balanced as you dont need to farm levels in this game, and if you dont there will be a lot left for another one or two new playthroughs. And honestly pvp in this game is somewhat hard to create because of the lack of different builds and weapons for the main character in this game which makes the different counter and dodge mechanics completely irrelevant in pvp fights as the default sword has only one light attack combo and one thrust attack.
Honestly if you are about to buy this game dont go in with the expectation of getting a soulsborne game. If you just think you are getting an action game with Fromsoftware's signature difficulty and learning curve, you might even like this game more than other games by From just as i did.…Expand

Incredibly challenging yet incredibly rewarding, Sekiro truly is a feat to behold. Where in lies an extremely difficult game, there too lies a quick paced and engaging combat system which develops further as you advance its many challenges, a beautiful fleshed out world left for you to explore and conquer its many varying enemies, and a sense of satisfaction like no other as you accomplishIncredibly challenging yet incredibly rewarding, Sekiro truly is a feat to behold. Where in lies an extremely difficult game, there too lies a quick paced and engaging combat system which develops further as you advance its many challenges, a beautiful fleshed out world left for you to explore and conquer its many varying enemies, and a sense of satisfaction like no other as you accomplish victories you thought yourself never capable of.

Edit: On completion of the immortal severance ending i can say that this game is near perfect, my only problem being the annoying camera. 9.5/10. (Also its not that bad seriously stop whining that it's 'too hard' and needs an easy mode)…Expand

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a fine game. It's _NOT_ Dark Souls, as you can tell by it being called "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice" and not "Dark Souls 4." It plays like Sekiro, not Dark Souls. It's not about building a character, it's about refining your skill. There are skill trees, upgrade paths, and other stuff, but there's no Dexterity stat. There's no vitality. No armor, no weapons, noSekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a fine game. It's _NOT_ Dark Souls, as you can tell by it being called "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice" and not "Dark Souls 4." It plays like Sekiro, not Dark Souls. It's not about building a character, it's about refining your skill. There are skill trees, upgrade paths, and other stuff, but there's no Dexterity stat. There's no vitality. No armor, no weapons, no stats. All you have are your sword and your prosthetic tools. It's cool and unique. It's not a "deconstruction of the Souls formula." It's a different formula. What there is a fantastically crafted game.

My only complaints are the hitboxes on some enemy attacks are very bad and hard to read, and the health inequality between you and a boss is... extreme. Some of the boss fights feel like they take longer than anything I experienced in another From Software title. That's both good and bad. Also, I didn't care for the scenery in some areas. Not that big of a deal, but it does get docked a couple of points. Altogether? Solid game, highly recommended, but it's not their best.…Expand

Great game from From Software. Ive played it for 75 hours. 2 play throughs.

+ Combat. Demanding and rewardning.
+ Story.
+ Aesthetics + atmosphere.
+ Gameplay in general, level design + bossfights + stealth is great.
+ Parry-fest. I played a parry-build in DS1, DS3 and used the parry alot in BB. So i enjoy it. A matter of taste.
- No different weapons and gear makes explorationGreat game from From Software. Ive played it for 75 hours. 2 play throughs.

+ Combat. Demanding and rewardning.
+ Story.
+ Aesthetics + atmosphere.
+ Gameplay in general, level design + bossfights + stealth is great.
+ Parry-fest. I played a parry-build in DS1, DS3 and used the parry alot in BB. So i enjoy it. A matter of taste.

- No different weapons and gear makes exploration less rewarding, allthough prosthetic arm and skilltree works fine. However:
- Prosthetic tools not that impactful. They should have been more like the secondary mode/attack in Bloodborne. The prosthetics are really nice but since they cost emblems to use they get somewhat limited which is a shame.
- A bit busy on the controller. Especially the X-button (square on PS4) is crammed with **** Using items becomes a chore compared to Bloodborne and DS.
- Dragon rot mechanic that makes NPCs sick creates unnecessarty stress when you die. However it doesn't have that much of an impact.
- Wierd enemy AI and sightmechanics. Can get frustrating at times.
- The difficulty level is sometimes unnecessary punishing, specially in the first playthrough. However, the game became easy the second time i played it. It took me 3 hours to beat a specific boss my first time, but my second playthrough i beat him with ease only taking 1-2 hits. So be ready to git gud.
- Lack of replayability. Unilke DS and BB i don't really feel the urge to return to the game after finishing it the second time. And it's mainly because of the lack of weaponry and difference in playstyle. However, i do want to play the bosses agian so maybe i will return.

= Great game. I hope for a great expansion that adds at least 20h of gameplay.…Expand

The controls and game mechanics are re-worked just enough to throw veteran Souls players off in the beginning but make no mistake this is the easiest and most streamlined game in the series.

Difficulty from regular enemies as ever comes from being ambushed by gank squads. Bosses take there cue from DS3 by spamming grab attacks and magic projectiles between quickly closing the playerThe controls and game mechanics are re-worked just enough to throw veteran Souls players off in the beginning but make no mistake this is the easiest and most streamlined game in the series.

Difficulty from regular enemies as ever comes from being ambushed by gank squads. Bosses take there cue from DS3 by spamming grab attacks and magic projectiles between quickly closing the player down to prevent healing.

The game is easy now because you can't fall off ledges to your death anywhere near as easily. You can warp to and from bonfires at will and you can just run and grapple hook your way past enemies to the next bonfire even without knowing the layout of the area because your character is so fast. You can now also pause the game to use items at leisure.

The combat is all about getting that satisfying visceral by wearing down enemies health and breaking their guard. It's not as hard as it initially appears and mostly involves spamming the bumper buttons while learning which attacks need to be dodged though there are other abilities and nuances to the combat.

Leveling up has been cut down to two stats, really it works the same as always (except stamina has been removed) it's just now all the numbers are under the hood. Upgrades are now on a skill tree which I am not a fan of as I feel it limits your options as you often have to upgrade something you don't want in order to get the thing you do.

Level design is dense and well crafted for the most part, although there was a few occasions when I would get turned around an not know which direction I had come from due to the area looking similar in all directions.

Overall another excellent game by FromSoft with superbly realised art direction. I do miss some of the previous games features like being able to make unique character builds and I do think this will limit the games re-playability slightly.…Expand

Sekiro is not what i expected. I expected basically samurai souls, just like nioh was samurai gaiden, but what i found was not that. However, i can also say that i want more of what i did find.

Sekiros combat-system feels great, its fast-paced and even regular mobs can destroy you if you screw up. You have a rather simple arsenal of techniques to use to defeat the challenge that isSekiro is not what i expected. I expected basically samurai souls, just like nioh was samurai gaiden, but what i found was not that. However, i can also say that i want more of what i did find.

Sekiros combat-system feels great, its fast-paced and even regular mobs can destroy you if you screw up. You have a rather simple arsenal of techniques to use to defeat the challenge that is sent your way, but that also means that your own understanding of those same techniques and how they interact becomes more important than before. Your own play-style sometimes doesnt work with certain encounters and trivializes others, and i personally love that. An example of this is the contrast between two bosses, Lady Butterfly and Genichiro.

Lady Butterfly is regularly one of the bosses people tend to talk about as very difficult and several people have told me that they stopped playing the game due to not being able to beat her. For me, she was kind of trivial. Dash in, get her timing down and parry, shuriken when she is in the air to knock her down etc. (Lots of similarities between her and the succubus in Nioh actually). I took her down after about an hour of trying.

Genichiro, however, destroyed me. He is really fast, tends to make distance and punish you for trying to close that distance and then also punish you when you dont. He has a mid-air volley that wrecks your posture and your day. So my way of playing didnt work, and after a few hours i decided to go back to basics; Be aggressive, punish everything, parry when needed and always try to get attacks in whenever there is an opening. After a few tries, he was dead. That, i feel is the key to the game, being able to adapt.

The prosthetic arm is fun. I still giggle when i run around and spray peasants with fire or parries an attack and appear behind the enemy whispering softly in their ear: "Nothing personal, kid". However, Its sadly easy to forget in combat and most of its tools are seldom useful outside of very specific situations.

The story is great, even if it feels like it gets interesting far too close to the end. The lore feels like it desperately needs dlc and sequels to be fleshed out. The characters are okay and the world feels interesting.

So lets discuss the elephant in the room. The design when it comes to difficulty. I think personally that the difficulty is fine, it gives you a false sense of strength sometimes just to slap you out of it, but you always get to struggle to get that feeling back. However, some bosses feel like they dont cater well to the games mechanics, one i particular. This boss is the blazing bull. This boss feels, in my opinion, really out of place. It is cool, and it sure as hell isnt expected when it pops up, but it doesnt make use of the combat mechanics as much as your patience and ability to react to its erratic movement. I didnt find it fun, but i do accept that not everything can be perfect. Bloodborne had the amygdala, DS3 had the ancient wyvern and Sekiro has the blazing bull, thats fine but i do feel like it could have been better on that point.

And god damn it, Miyazaki. Please, just give us more weapons, the ability to modify the katana and change our outfits. Please. The weakest point in this game is quite literally the lack of customization, but given a sequel, im sure it will be improved just like dark souls was a large improvment on demon souls.

To summarize, Do i recommend this game?
Yes. Hell yes, i do. At least if you dont expect dark souls 4 out of this, cuz youre not gonna get that. However, it is a fun challenge, the world is interesting and the combat is in my opinion the next best one yet, only falling slightly behind bloodborne. This game feels like an attempted trip into unfamilliar waters and it does well, but a sequel is needed to really see what From software can actually do with this setting and these new mechanics. I personally cant wait for an expansion or a sequel.…Expand

You are trash when it comes to Sekiro, and you will feel it. No lubricants, you butt will be sore from so much pounding.
Best game From has delivered. Pure adrenaline,The hardest, most insane, visceral, brutal experience From Software has ever brought us. This game will expose your lies, your souls "vet" status will be crushed, spat on, picked up, chewed on 10 times, and spat again.

You are trash when it comes to Sekiro, and you will feel it. No lubricants, you butt will be sore from so much pounding.

Best game From has delivered. Pure adrenaline, learn, adapt and prepare to die. 125k peak on Steam only shows that PC gamers are real hardcore gamers and they want this type of game. Console plebs are crying at the difficulty.…Expand

Pretty good visuals, excellent, fun, exciting combat, great story and setting. Japanese voice acting is great. Very immerse, short loadings and only on start. Fluid, intuitive movement.

Enemies can act dumb, like they are short sighted and kinda deaf, except for ranged enemies. Boss fights are really cool!
The difficulty? It's punishing but since the game is really addictive, you mightPretty good visuals, excellent, fun, exciting combat, great story and setting. Japanese voice acting is great. Very immerse, short loadings and only on start. Fluid, intuitive movement.

Enemies can act dumb, like they are short sighted and kinda deaf, except for ranged enemies. Boss fights are really cool!
The difficulty? It's punishing but since the game is really addictive, you might play it again and again and again then succeed and finish the section with satisfaction.

There are nice upgrades for the move set and versatile tools to beat your enemies. Thanks to the level design, you can play with different strategies. In overall, a really enjoyable experience, seriously addictive, frustrating, fun. Yes, there are minor issues here and there (in term of game design) but the game works perfectly, performance is great, visuals are pretty good.

If you don't mind difficult games and love Japanese lore and setting, get this game! It's great!…Expand

A true masterpiece and a very worthy successor to the souls series. From the stealth to the heart-pounding combat, this game is a total joyride. It can be hard, just like its predecessor, but its worth every aggravating minute to see something so lovingly crafted.

Ignore any negative reviews found here, they're just salty and can't handle change or variety.

Literally the best game i have ever played, and that says a LOT, since i ve been gaming very actively for over 20 years and played pretty much everything that's any good. I only wish for expansion packs and more wonderful games by FROM, just like this one.

I feel it's not that the game is hard per-say, it's that the game wants you to play a certain way. you have more options after skills are unlocked, sure. but it's it's more that this is not a souls game, it's a timing mini game each fight, and you learn what you can deflect and what you can't, when to run and when to you attack. You also just want to be consistently pressuring if you can,I feel it's not that the game is hard per-say, it's that the game wants you to play a certain way. you have more options after skills are unlocked, sure. but it's it's more that this is not a souls game, it's a timing mini game each fight, and you learn what you can deflect and what you can't, when to run and when to you attack. You also just want to be consistently pressuring if you can, if you're not being attacked, attack them. The hardest part I feel is actually grabs, which you need to be far enough away from to not get hit by. hitboxes for grab attack are a tad too wide IMO.…Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
the only reason this game is not a ten for me is the lack of high quallity lore. i mean it is ok and all, but it's not really entertaining. i know it's not the main theme in this from softwaare games, but the scheme for a good stry is right there, the characters are interesting, it makes you wanna know more, but you can't
other than that (and some minor problems with the damn camera and auto lock, but these are really minor) the game is perfect. the batlling mechanics are extremely perfect and fun, the grapling system too. the boss fights: D A M N. they are literally supreme. every single one of 'em are creative, and special, and the Divine Dragon, H O T D A M N, it may be my favourite boss battle in any video game ever.…Expand

FromSoftware have grown into one of those studios whose game releases are big events. And I'm really glad as they are one of the few companies out there devoted to strong singleplayer games and the Soulsbourne games are one of the reasons I got into gaming.

That being said, Sekiro is a masterpiece. Its a natural evolution on the soulsbourne games and is different in all the right ways.FromSoftware have grown into one of those studios whose game releases are big events. And I'm really glad as they are one of the few companies out there devoted to strong singleplayer games and the Soulsbourne games are one of the reasons I got into gaming.

That being said, Sekiro is a masterpiece. Its a natural evolution on the soulsbourne games and is different in all the right ways. I bestow my highest praises on FromSoftware, they are true masters of the art of making videogames, and while I play Sekiro, I eagerly await their next game no matter how long it takes.…Expand

Great game super amazing Great game super amazing Great game super amazing Great game super amazing Great game super amazing Great game super amazing Great game super **** game super amazing Great game super amazing Great game super amazing Great game super amazing I LOVE THIS GAME !!!

Great game. (No Spoilers)
This game gives you that feeling you had when you first played Dark Souls, before you "Got Gud", There are many who have been chasing that feeling ever since. But you could never really get it from new Dark Souls games because the combat was basically the same. People who only got through Dark Souls by summoning others to help them are gonna be in for quite aGreat game. (No Spoilers)
This game gives you that feeling you had when you first played Dark Souls, before you "Got Gud", There are many who have been chasing that feeling ever since. But you could never really get it from new Dark Souls games because the combat was basically the same. People who only got through Dark Souls by summoning others to help them are gonna be in for quite a challenge. It's very well optimized and getting a locked 60FPS at 1080p with Max Settings is easy to achieve. I wish it would support higher framerates, but at least capping it at 60 makes the frame pacing pretty consistent. The graphics are a clear step up from Dark Souls 3, at least on PC. The Combat is really engaging. It's certainly difficult, but it's a different kind of difficulty than Dark Souls. When you first start playing you may think that the combat is simplistic and completely focused on Parrying. But as you get better at the game you will start to see the nuance and complexity. Deflecting certainly is important though, but I don't see why people are shocked or angry that in a game about fighting people with swords, stopping the swords from hitting you by blocking is an important aspect of the combat. The best way to describe what the combat feels like when you’re playing it correctly, is that it feels like your actually participating in one of those super intense sword fights in an anime like Samurai Champloo, Rurouni Kenshin or Afro Samurai. I think there are a lot of negative reviews of this game that are posted in a fit of rage immediately after being **** on by a Boss in the game for the 50th time. This is not the kind of game where if you are using the wrong tactics against a boss, no matter how many times you try you will never beat them. While Dark Souls combat felt like a frantic, white knuckle, adrenaline fueled, fight for survival. Sekiro is more about being able to keep your composure and and making the correct tactical call instead of relying on impulsive survival instinct to win. The story is more straightforward than Dark Souls but there are still lots of little secrets and bits of information for VaatiVidya to delve into. I do wish there was more variety in the weaker enemies but it’s still decent. Overall, this is another fantastic game by From Software. I still don't know exactly how high the Skill Ceiling is, but I'm looking forward to seeing all the crazy **** people will be able to pull off in this game. Don't play this game like its Dark Souls. It is its own beast. There are still lots of mechanics and stuff in the game that are unmistakably From Software touches. It's still hard as hell, which is great. It's not cheap, when you get killed you know that you messed up and that it wasn't the games fault. It's amazing that From Software was able to make an experience that is as hard as, if not more difficult than Dark Souls. It makes you feel like how you felt in Dark Souls before you "got gud" and I’m just happy I get to enjoy that feeling again. The only reasons I don't think it's a 10/10 is that the Stealth System is pretty lack-luster. I get what they were going for and it is functional. But the AI was not really designed well enough for a deep stealth system. You can just run away and hide for like 30 seconds and everyone will forget that you were ever even there. The Stealth Assassinations look cool as hell and are super visceral, but they super over the top and LOUD AS HELL. You can kill someone and another guard who is probably close enough that the massive spray of blood would get on him and he doesn't notice. Unless the guy is literally right next to the person you kill they won't notice. 85% of the time they don't even notice the dead bodies all around them The thing is, I'm not sure whether a lot of these shortcomings with the stealth system are because of poor design or if it was a deliberate decision so that the game wouldn't be even more difficult than it already is. Although performance is good, I would still rather be able to play at above 60FPS. The PC port doesn't give the granular control of settings that is possible on PC. I used a controller for this game even though I normally use Mouse and Keyboard so I'm not sure about how good the controls are with M+KB. I do also wish there was more weapons and items to get just to give the combat more diversity but realize that the Prosthetic Arm is supposed to bring some of that and it just wasn't part of their vision for this game. The Story is decent but I still enjoyed Dark Souls more. I think the game could have been even better than it is, but that's the case with basically anything. So yeah 9/10 absolutely worth picking up if you liked Dark Souls and I think it's also a good first title for people to start getting into From Software games with. Ignore any Negative reviews you see where the whole thing is just someone complaining about the game being hard.
** PC Specs: Intel i7-8750H, GTX 1070, 16GB RAM and 512GB NVMe…Expand

ELECTRONIC ARTS : Single player games are dead.
FROM SOFTWARE : Hold my sake.
At first I was saddened to hear that Miyazaki would not make another souls game again, but little did we realise that what he meant was that he would soup up the system so much that becomes impossible to call it a soulsborne game. 10/10 would want to get bamboozled again.
STORY : The story takes place inELECTRONIC ARTS : Single player games are dead.
FROM SOFTWARE : Hold my sake.
At first I was saddened to hear that Miyazaki would not make another souls game again, but little did we realise that what he meant was that he would soup up the system so much that becomes impossible to call it a soulsborne game. 10/10 would want to get bamboozled again.
STORY : The story takes place in feudal Japan and one of the first major changes you realise when starting the game is that there are "comprehensible" dialogues and the protagonist speaks. This is very welcoming for new players as they can get the gist of the story and get motivated to push forward which really lacked in their previous games. Though the previous souls games had some dialogue, they Individually weren't any useful unless you knew the bigger picture, and most of the real story elements were hidden in item descriptions. Here atleast you know why and what you are doing. There is a fun mechanic where you offer "Sake" to different NPCs to get their backstories, different sake causes them to deliver different dialogues, just remember to keep track of which kind you are giving to whom as giving the same type of sake will repeat the same dialogue.

GAMEPLAY : The real meat and potatoes of the game, while it essentially shares the skeleton of a souls game, the new changes are quite welcome. For starters as you all know from the name Shadows die twice you can resurrect after dying. This helps reduce frustrations when you get ambushed or one shot by something as you get the time to check who and how you got killed then resurrect to deal or run away from the problem. This was really annoying in souls games as you might be carrying a lot of resources while exploring and suddenly a new trap or enemy one shots you and you drop everything. That doesnt make the game any easier though as all minibosses and bosses have multiple health bars to chew through.
Speaking about multiple health bars, you need to perform deathblows to kill enemies, which you can do by reducing their health to 0, or by breaking their posture. Attacking, deflecting, countering deals posture damage to enemies, and they can do the same to you. Once their posture breaks you can deal a deathblow instantly regardless of the amount of health remaining and take out one health bar. The posture recovers slowly over time when not attacking or defending, and the lower the health the posture will recover at a lower rate. So while trying to defeat bosses aggressive players can go for the posture breaks, and the "safe" players can slowly but surely whittle down the health bars. Also when you die you lose 50% of your xp and gold and they are not recoverable like in previous games, on the other hand you get a mechanic called unseen aid which provides 30% chance to not lose anything upon death, the more you die there is a chance the NPCs will get affected by dragonrot disease which lowers the chance of unseen aid and prevents the NPC quests from progressing.

Theres a grapple hook to traverse the areas and not much else as it isnt used for combat. The level design is top notch to allow the players to pull a sneaky on the enemies by using the grapple to bypass or backstab them. And some secret areas are really well hidden out of usual view and you need to grapple specific spots to reach them.

Now on to the prosthetic tools, there are 10 tools to find and choose from. You can upgrade them to have different properties to suit your needs, certain enemy types become MUCH easier when using some particular tools and their upgrades to exploit their weaknesses. For example throwing the shuriken towards airborne enemies staggers them and interrupts their attack chain, using fire on chained ogre stuns him for a few cheap hits etc. Other than that, the tools arent as necessary I thought it would be, your sword is enough to deal with almost every situation. However the last tiers of tools provide some juicy benefits which will be fun to play with in new game+.

CONCLUSION : Its one of the best designed games ever made, FROMSOFTWARE delivered and even exceeded our expectations on how they can improve the genre, a must buy if you are a souls fan and always wanted to try out something new yet similar.…Expand

Amazing game that doesn't deserve the negative review bombing it has gotten,
mainly for reasons like it being too hard, it's not similar enough to Dark Souls etc.
The combat is second to to none, 10/10. The movement can be slightly wonky sometimes,
specifically the jumping but it's not a big deal.
The game is not the most technically demanding one but exploring the environments
isAmazing game that doesn't deserve the negative review bombing it has gotten,
mainly for reasons like it being too hard, it's not similar enough to Dark Souls etc.

The combat is second to to none, 10/10. The movement can be slightly wonky sometimes,
specifically the jumping but it's not a big deal.

The game is not the most technically demanding one but exploring the environments
is a sight to behold, from snowy mountains to lush forests.

Even though it's very early to tell, this is as of yet my GOTY.…Expand

They surpassed themselves with this game. This is by far my favorite game from "From Software". The setting is fantastic, the graphics are amazing, the ambiance is sublime. The combat feels very good and is very rewarding if you take the time to learn the mechanics of the game. I don't consider myself a very good gamer and I had no problem with the difficulty. Yes it is hard but that makesThey surpassed themselves with this game. This is by far my favorite game from "From Software". The setting is fantastic, the graphics are amazing, the ambiance is sublime. The combat feels very good and is very rewarding if you take the time to learn the mechanics of the game. I don't consider myself a very good gamer and I had no problem with the difficulty. Yes it is hard but that makes it soo much better when you are able to beat a boss that you worked hard for. I see some reviews saying the game is too hard for human reflexes but I am telling you that they are wrong. The hit boxes are very accurate and the levels design is fantastic. I recommend !…Expand

I'll start out by saying that while the closest game to Sekiro, would be Dark Souls 3, Sekiro is a different beast compared to the Dark Souls games. Saying that not being like Dark Souls is a negative would be counterproductive. It would be similar to criticising Red Dead Redemption for not being about gangsters like in GTA.

The way I see it, the focus of the combat in this game has 2I'll start out by saying that while the closest game to Sekiro, would be Dark Souls 3, Sekiro is a different beast compared to the Dark Souls games. Saying that not being like Dark Souls is a negative would be counterproductive. It would be similar to criticising Red Dead Redemption for not being about gangsters like in GTA.

The way I see it, the focus of the combat in this game has 2 key points: Feeling like a duel and playing like a ninja. These 2 elements are mutually exclusive and will be the main difference between playstyles among different players.

This game, is the closest thing I've seen in a single player game to resemble an actual duel. Boss fights are very interactive. The norm for boss battles in most games are that they do some attack pattern which you have to dodge which leaves a window so you can attack. Generally speaking, you cannot attack without getting hit outside of this window, the window getting smaller and attacks harder to dodge as games becomes increasingly difficult. In Sekiro you have the option to go on the offense which enemies in general will react to by using the key mechanic of their combat system; deflecting. Sekiro is able to interrupt many attacks or force the boss to go on defense until they manage to deflect Sekiro's attacks or use an attack which can't get interrupted. Overall this makes humanoid boss fights feel like an organic back and forward which I haven't seen replicated in other games ths well.

Playing as a Shinobi is represented in your many stealth options, having the option to instantly take half of the hp of many bosses by using stealth to assassinate them pre fight. Stealth typically only plays a role ouside of boss encounters so it's nice how they allow Sekiro's ninja character to stay relevant even when most boss fights in this game are about a epic 1v1 duel.

If we compare this game to the other juggernaut of an action which just released Devil May Cry 5, I would say that Devil May Cry 5 has the best offense in perhaps any game, while Sekiro has the best defense in a single player game, Most attacks get an implied way to handle them whereas your common options are to jump, dodge and deflect. However to expand this you have the option to interrupt the enemy with fast attacks, you have attacks which can't get interrupted and you can use defensive maneuvers aside from the suggested ones to deal more damage to health rather than breaking posture. The bosses in this game, while not all visually distinct, it's mostly humanoids, their functions are quite different. Some bosses hp are easy to wittle down, leaving posture regeneration slow, enabling Dark Souls style spacing + hit and runs strats to be effective, while other bosses are very hard to hurt, requiring you to stay in their face and be on the offense at all times to be able to bring down their posture.

Lastly I would like to say that this game do have some Dark Souls elements. They have taken item descriptions and instead of describing pure lore, they often have an ingame function such as leading to a secret technique or similar. They have also taken note of experienced Dark Souls players just running through areas like madmen. While it's still possible for the most part, it feels more intentional now rather than exploiting bad AI. Some specific areas encourage doing this and some areas make it practically impossible to just run through it like a retard. I have completed the entire game and feels it provides good variety in general and far better gimmick/setpiece fights than the other From games. Fighting beasts type bosses feels bad in general, description of dragonrot mechanic is misleading etc.

I can make a long list of faults and how I think the game could be improved but overall great game, I don't think that any games does what Sekiro tries to do and pulls it off as well and thus gets a 10/10 for me.…Expand

Fantastic game, movement and combat are vastly improved from the Souls series. Wonderful game, this is pretty much Tenchu 2019 mixed with Souls and I love it. Only aspect I miss from the souls games is the classes, but even that I soon forgot of because so many other elements are improved from the Souls games.

Not the better game than Dark Souls but definitely a new and better experience.
While the core concept is same as Dark Souls the fast paced swordplay and the combat mechanics demands you to have quick reflexes, better decision making, more precise timing and to know when to be aggressive and when to be defensive. Although almost all of rpg elements is absent and also has it's fair shareNot the better game than Dark Souls but definitely a new and better experience.
While the core concept is same as Dark Souls the fast paced swordplay and the combat mechanics demands you to have quick reflexes, better decision making, more precise timing and to know when to be aggressive and when to be defensive. Although almost all of rpg elements is absent and also has it's fair share of downsides, for personally the combat and difficulty alone makes me ignore it all.…Expand

Sekiro won't be for everyone, this was to be expected. However, this also won't be for all Souls fans who enjoyed the Multiplayer aspects. It is, by and large, its own thing. However, I consider this a plus, by completely eliminating the PvP and Coop aspects (not that I didn't like them in the Souls series) FROM could focus solely on creating a game with great atmosphere, fluid combat,Sekiro won't be for everyone, this was to be expected. However, this also won't be for all Souls fans who enjoyed the Multiplayer aspects. It is, by and large, its own thing. However, I consider this a plus, by completely eliminating the PvP and Coop aspects (not that I didn't like them in the Souls series) FROM could focus solely on creating a game with great atmosphere, fluid combat, awesome controls and a lot of polish, and they delivered.

The combat is different and more challenging (at least from the viewpoint of someone who is right now trying to unlearn what they learned playing Dark Soul), your own mobility is vastly increased and the levels are much more vertical.

When starting the game, from the splashscreen onward, you will know you're playing a FROM game, and that's amazing. They managed to keep their specific touch without regurgitating what they did for the least years once again. The story isn't quite as vague in favor of more cutscenes and dialogues (and a talking protagonist), but there are still lots of things to fill in yourself, including but not limited to lore bits and pieces on items and ominous NPC dialogue.

If you enjoy challenging games, action adventures, role playing games or even just gaming in general, you owe it to yourself to play this game. It's honestly amazing and I'm feeling bad just writing this because this time could be spend playing it.…Expand

I haven't beaten it yet. It may take a long while, but so far this game truly impresses. Also, with HDR I think the graphics are amazing! I'm not sure why people are trashing the graphics. It saddens me that this game has a lower metacritic score than rdr2. That game isn't even fun. Truly it isn't. This game is pure fun, in the same spirit as a Nintendo game like BOTW or MarioI haven't beaten it yet. It may take a long while, but so far this game truly impresses. Also, with HDR I think the graphics are amazing! I'm not sure why people are trashing the graphics. It saddens me that this game has a lower metacritic score than rdr2. That game isn't even fun. Truly it isn't. This game is pure fun, in the same spirit as a Nintendo game like BOTW or Mario Odyssey. The focus is on gameplay and fun.…Expand

This game is a perfect 10. I have spent upwards of 700+ hours playing From Software titles and within 10 hours of playing Sekiro I already knew just how special this game truly is. It's much of the same but yet so different. Sekiro's story and gameplay are a little more direct than previous From Software titles but they still don't hold your hand and guide you through everything. ConceptsThis game is a perfect 10. I have spent upwards of 700+ hours playing From Software titles and within 10 hours of playing Sekiro I already knew just how special this game truly is. It's much of the same but yet so different. Sekiro's story and gameplay are a little more direct than previous From Software titles but they still don't hold your hand and guide you through everything. Concepts like the Dragonrot leave you wondering how your actions can impact the ending (if at all). Some of the mini boss fights were as challenging as boss fights from other games and my first actual encounters with main bosses were exhilarating experiences. The posture system in the game really adds an amazing dynamic to the combat that I find to be a refreshing change. Overall, the game is beautiful and fluid, the combat system rewards stealth and patience but still offers avenues for people who like to play more aggressive, and the story is exactly what I've come to expect with a From Software title. 10/10 - highly recommend to anyone that doesnt have anger management issues and temper problems :D…Expand

Sekiro: Shadows die twice is a FromSoftware game, not a Dark Souls game. Despite Sekiro takes some mechanics and style from the Souls series, the game accomplish the turnover that the developers wanted, and for me, in a right direction.
For the next analysis I'll compare him with other similar games, but I want you to know that it's quite independent from what you have seen.
Pros:
-Sekiro: Shadows die twice is a FromSoftware game, not a Dark Souls game. Despite Sekiro takes some mechanics and style from the Souls series, the game accomplish the turnover that the developers wanted, and for me, in a right direction.
For the next analysis I'll compare him with other similar games, but I want you to know that it's quite independent from what you have seen.

Pros:
- FromSoftwere are experts on the game design: The feudal japanese ambient; main character; map design and bosses are awesome.
- High Level of difficulty + good gameplay: Souls saga developed the character mobility through the games, being Dark Souls 3 and specially Bloodborne the quickest games of them; Sekiro developed even more that mobility making the game vertical and adding the stealth. Despite I am a Souls veteran, I think the game has a great difficulty and makes so satisfying to kill a boss.
- Even though the lore of the Souls series was really deep, in Sekiro we find that the information received is more explicit but no less deep.

Cons:
- As I said before, the gameplay is good; but the animations for killing basic enemies are so limited for a 2019 game.
- I would prefer a deepest character customization: Or weapon variety (with their respective movement sets) or more skills that transform the gameplay to another level.

In conclusion, Sekiro is a really good new IP with a very high potential of being another historical sagas just like Souls games.…Expand

Don't blame the game, it actually teach you how to be better(as a gamer in general) . This is not dark soul but mashing doesn't work here. To those who is interest to this game, If you want a fun , relaxing and play as a overpower killing machine with lot of cut scenes , just turn around. This game is not for everyone, even some pro gamers can't beat it. Actually the hard part of this gameDon't blame the game, it actually teach you how to be better(as a gamer in general) . This is not dark soul but mashing doesn't work here. To those who is interest to this game, If you want a fun , relaxing and play as a overpower killing machine with lot of cut scenes , just turn around. This game is not for everyone, even some pro gamers can't beat it. Actually the hard part of this game is thinking, focusing and patient..…Expand

Sekiro is real innovation in the souls-like genre. FROM has really created a novel combat system and expanded the world building to tell a more detailed campaign.

Pros:
The new fighting style innovates on the traditional stamina management and block, roll, and punish. We've got a very gritty in your face combat that still requires you to learn your opponent but isn't just the same oldSekiro is real innovation in the souls-like genre. FROM has really created a novel combat system and expanded the world building to tell a more detailed campaign.

Pros:
The new fighting style innovates on the traditional stamina management and block, roll, and punish. We've got a very gritty in your face combat that still requires you to learn your opponent but isn't just the same old thing.
Much more detailed world and beautiful landscapes. I enjoyed this take on Japanese culture and it was a breathe of fresh air after the gloomy gothic cathedrals of DS

Cons:
There are a few odd game design choices such as a focus on consumables and a weird punishment for dying. I'm always saving for the next big fight so the entire consumable component feels like a waste. The "unseen aid" mechanic feels completely useless and while I appreciate that it isn't the same "drop your souls where you die", it doesn't provide the great gameplay loop and also feels like you are punished for experimenting.…Expand

It's a different take on the dark souls genre with less rpg elements but far better combat. It's clear the majority of negative reviews are from those that have played very little of the game and have yet to unlock many of the abilities nodes in the 4 skill trees that said players are incapable of progressing and unlocking. The combat is far more than "Just parry", but the simpleton'sIt's a different take on the dark souls genre with less rpg elements but far better combat. It's clear the majority of negative reviews are from those that have played very little of the game and have yet to unlock many of the abilities nodes in the 4 skill trees that said players are incapable of progressing and unlocking. The combat is far more than "Just parry", but the simpleton's simply don't possess the tools to analyze a bosses mechanics and try new things. It's sad really. Learn the combat system and quit crying that it isn't dark souls 3 combat. Overall the game's easier than dark souls but it's still an enjoyable play though, and well worth the 60 bucks.…Expand

Incredible game, very challenging and its not a dark souls in which you have to wait until the enemy finishes his attacks, you are the one who has to stop the enemy attacks to create your opportunity to beat them. If you were waiting for a 100% souls-like mechanics this could not be your game

Not sure how From Software keeps making masterpiece after masterpiece but they do, this game is hard let no one tell you otherwise, and this game will beat the ever loving **** out of you.....if you are a scrub, but if you like your games balls to the wall Dark Souls on crack difficulty, fast as **** combat, a 10/10 story, and Japan in all it's glory, then why you not play fam?

Simply amazing. As a huge Dark Souls fan this it's almost hard to say, but I think I like Sekiro more than any of the Souls games. Well Dark Souls (1) will always have a special place in my heart, but boy is Sekiro a good game.

Looks gorgeous, sound design is great, movement is fun and fluid. Action is fluid, thrilling, challenging and very rewarding. One of the best single player gamesSimply amazing. As a huge Dark Souls fan this it's almost hard to say, but I think I like Sekiro more than any of the Souls games. Well Dark Souls (1) will always have a special place in my heart, but boy is Sekiro a good game.

Looks gorgeous, sound design is great, movement is fun and fluid. Action is fluid, thrilling, challenging and very rewarding. One of the best single player games I have ever played, up there with Witcher 3, Dark Souls and the likes.…Expand

Like all From Software games, it's not a game that will reach and please all the masses because of the difficulty factor mainly, which is somewhat sad because at the same time it's the charm of From Software's creations and is truly a masterpiece.

The mechanics are mostly different from their past games, the combat is fast paced, you have much more mobility, both vertically andLike all From Software games, it's not a game that will reach and please all the masses because of the difficulty factor mainly, which is somewhat sad because at the same time it's the charm of From Software's creations and is truly a masterpiece.

The mechanics are mostly different from their past games, the combat is fast paced, you have much more mobility, both vertically and horizontally, allowing great scenario exploration and combat mechanics.

The game is hard, as you should expect, even with the revive system. The combat is focused in exchanging, and that's where the game started to shine for me. Also the stealth system flows good and opens up a lot of variety to your approaches.

On the start you will have a very hard time for sure, i saw reviews saying the game is unfair, or things like that, i can guarantee you that is not, when you understand the mechanics and the best approaches to each enemy, things will start to flow, if you die, it's your fault, that's for sure. You can't be totally agressive, you can't be totally defensive, again, it's all about exchanging, and the combat flows amazingly smooth and satisfying. The prosthetic tools are very fun to use and can expand a lot your play style.

The graphics aren't top notch compared to another titles nowadays, but in a game like this, i really look for gameplay and world design first. The world design is beautiful, there's a lot of connections between points and or shortcuts to specific areas, not that interconnected like Dark souls 1, but it's incredible nonetheless. The sounds are immersive, the OSTs are not as remarkable for me like it was in DS3 and Bloodborne, but it fits really well into the game atmosphere. The lore is more straightful than past games, but still a lot to discover from items/npcs, also the plot is engaging, specially around mid game. Regarding bosses you will not be disappointed, the epicness of some fights are breathtaking, some of them is already on my favorites of all time list.

Things that can improve in my opinion:

- I would love to see more deathblows animations, make it happen in a patch please From!
- Customizing your robe would be cool
- The camera in small rooms sometimes can be troublesome

As a soulsborne fanatic i tought that it would be hard to happen, but maybe Sekiro is From Software game that i'm having most fun to date, it's challenging, it can be frustrating until you realize what you're doing wrong, but in the end it's fun, and that's all that matters.

I praise From Software for risking a change in the formula, and at the same time respecting the fans of the past games, it's vey honorable.

I have much more to say about the game, but the review is big enough already and would have spoilers, if you've read until here thanks and good gaming!…Expand

Sekiro is an absolute masterpiece - perhaps the best thing I’ve ever played. Its just enough Souls - the atmosphere, the sense of mystery and deep, melancholic purpose, but it has this incredible combat system which actually makes every fight rewarding, makes you use all your skills, items, and tools in ever evolving combinations to best opponents. The fights are very hard at first, and ifSekiro is an absolute masterpiece - perhaps the best thing I’ve ever played. Its just enough Souls - the atmosphere, the sense of mystery and deep, melancholic purpose, but it has this incredible combat system which actually makes every fight rewarding, makes you use all your skills, items, and tools in ever evolving combinations to best opponents. The fights are very hard at first, and if you’re not switched on, you’ll die to most bosses in about 3 hits. That fact makes it all the more thrilling that if you react properly you can beat them and win without having to use healing at all. The posture system and the fact that guarding 100% protects health (but not posture) is probably the best thing ever to happen to games like this.

Above all of this though, the thing that’s blowing me away is the world - the sheer mythological, but real, epic beauty of the landscapes. The brightly coloured leaves between the roof tiles of forgotten Buddhist temples. The soaring mountains, the shafts of light in the deep gorges - I frequently just stop and look around in awe. The game is almost a religious experience - and not just because of the constant death and resurrection.…Expand

I created a Metacritic account just to give this game a 10/10. I love the pacing of the game. I like that actually your skill in the game matters. The swordplay system comprising of posture, vitality and block/deflect is the real charm. I like that you have to fight most bosses and enemies aggressively and head on, instead of rolling and dodging like an idiot.
Sekiro is difficult. But itsI created a Metacritic account just to give this game a 10/10. I love the pacing of the game. I like that actually your skill in the game matters. The swordplay system comprising of posture, vitality and block/deflect is the real charm. I like that you have to fight most bosses and enemies aggressively and head on, instead of rolling and dodging like an idiot.
Sekiro is difficult. But its difficulty is not insurmountable. When you get into the flow, this game beats any other action game experiences i have had in my life.
I don't mind the stats and all RPG stuff which were axed in favor of skill. i love that rolling and dodging is not a panacea. It makes this game more challenging and adorable for me. The game demands that you learn and master the skills it wants. You cannot sidestep your skills by getting better armor and better weapons through farming and leveling up for hours.
I absolutely love this game.

PS. Dark Souls people who are crying that this game is difficult; My only advice is: Stop f**king rolling and dodging. Face the enemy head on. Learn to deflect instead of roll/dodge.…Expand

Not sure what people are smoking but for me Sekiro is a step back from its predecessors, and it has nothing to do with it not being a souls game. But if you like parrying over and over and over again you'll probably like this game.

Difficulty: Souls games always had a certain challenge to them but I think most people would consider them tough, but fair. Sekiro on the other hand I wouldNot sure what people are smoking but for me Sekiro is a step back from its predecessors, and it has nothing to do with it not being a souls game. But if you like parrying over and over and over again you'll probably like this game.

Difficulty: Souls games always had a certain challenge to them but I think most people would consider them tough, but fair. Sekiro on the other hand I would describe as beating your head against a brick wall until it gives, a challenge but not rewarding. My biggest issue is your damage threshold and output. You can die in just a few hits but bosses soak up damage like a sponge, you may as well be fighting them with a plastic butter knife. I know the common response from robots who can only speak in memes will be "git gud" but that doesn't apply here, it's just pure memorization of attack patterns rather than being able to adapt. Sekiro also ruins npc interaction as well, dieing too much will result in them getting sick of "dragonrot" which can only be cured from an item that is limited in quantity. Punishing just for the sake of it.

Combat: By far where this game fumbles the most. Fighting an enemy is centered around breaking an enemy stance and landing a deathblow. Some enemies have special attacks that can't be blocked which turns into a janken guessing game, couple that with the fact that some moves can kill you in 1 or 2 hits you have a nice recipe for a tedious combat system but it gets worse. Minibosses usually have smaller weak enemies around them so before you can even attempt fighting them again so you have to clear them out since taking on multiple enemies is a death sentence. The dodge is almost useless as you don't get the same invincible frames like the other souls games and its so high risk to do so your forced to parry which gets boring very quickly. I like the idea of the grappling hook but it felt like a shallow gimmick to me, not very useful in a fight as the sub weapons only chip away at enemies life and are usually blocked. Using it to get around was fun though.

Stealth: When it works it's great, but the problem is that its inconsistent. Sometimes you can walk right up to an enemy from the side and stealth kill them, other times you can be behind a wall and still alert everyone in the vicinity. You can throw objects to distract but this is inconsistent too, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. This is a mechanic that I feel doesn't mesh well with the bonfire system as it becomes tedious to stealth the same enemies just to attempt the boss again. Also there is no option to go pure stealth because you're forced into single combat when it comes to mini bosses or bosses, which is the opposite of what it means to be a deadly shinobi.

Sekiro borrows some elements from past souls games but does very little to stand out resulting in a game that has no identity outside of being a challenging action game made by fromsoft. I cant recommend this to souls veterans because they would be turned off by the lack of alternate weapons/armor and how bare bones the combat is. But I also can't recommend it to newbies either because they would be turned off by the difficulty. Save your money.

TL;DR if you were one of the few who did dexterity builds, this is your time to shine.…Expand

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a great game, but it has a few flaws that keep it from reaching a 9 or especially a 10 in my books. Coming into this I've beaten every Dark Souls game as well as Bloodborne. I just beat this as well a couple hours ago, and I wanted to wait for that before giving any opinion on it. Having beaten it, I'll warn you; DON'T GO INTO THIS EXPECTING AN RPG-ACTION GAMESekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a great game, but it has a few flaws that keep it from reaching a 9 or especially a 10 in my books. Coming into this I've beaten every Dark Souls game as well as Bloodborne. I just beat this as well a couple hours ago, and I wanted to wait for that before giving any opinion on it. Having beaten it, I'll warn you; DON'T GO INTO THIS EXPECTING AN RPG-ACTION GAME LIKE DARK SOULS. This is mostly an ACTION game. It does not have stat building like Dark Souls or new equipment (barring the prosthetic). I'll be keeping this as spoiler free as possible.

GAMEPLAY - Difficulty wise, Sekiro manages to keep up a good challenge, even for a seasoned Soulsborne player like me. Due to the stealth mechanics, however, it loses some difficulty in the areas between bosses, as you can pretty easily stealth kill an enemy and run. But when you reach those bosses or mini-bosses, the game ramps up pretty hard. Due to this, I'm sure many players will rage quit once or twice on walls. Is this frustration a good thing? Depends on the player.

The difficulty comes from the combat. It is way faster paced than Dark Souls, more akin to Bloodborne. This game also uses two lifebar-esque mechanisms, and has no stamina. Vitality, which is pretty straightforward. You lose that, you die. The other one is Posture. This is slightly more complicated. If your posture breaks from blocking too many attacks, you become vulnerable. If an opponent's posture breaks, you can kill them instantly with a deathblow regardless of their vitality. Bosses take more than one deathblow, however. This leads to a system where you can play aggressively, attacking to lower posture, or more defensively, deflecting attacks to lower posture. A mix of the two generally works best. One thing I really like about this new system is that it doesn't feel like other From games (at least to me). You can't really use any tricks you learned playing those games.

FROM also tackles the fact that in their other games, you could just out-level any difficult challenge to make it easier. Not so in Sekiro. You can use experience to gain skills, but it's up to the player to learn to use those skills effectively. The only way to increase your base stats is to defeat those difficult challenges. This pretty much guarantees that when you fight a boss most other players will have fought him at the same "level" with similar abilities. I don't really know what this does for replay value, can't really say at the moment.

Are the bosses all good and fair though? To this I give an unfortunate no. Most are fantastic and get your blood pumping, others are dull, tedious, and somewhat broken. The less good bosses tend to be the non-human bosses. In my opinion, this combat system works best versus human opponents. Dudes in armor, if you will.

That, hopefully, covers quite a bit of gameplay, so I'll move on to other stuff.

SOUND/MUSIC - Amazing. As expected from these guys. They always hit it out of the park.

LEVEL DESIGN/WORLD - Overlaps a bit with gameplay, I know. Overall, it's pretty good. But unfortunately, a couple areas are reused multiple times and it makes the world feel a little small (which it honestly is). The levels are well designed, but the stealth sort've takes away from the enemy placement, I feel.

STORY - In my opinion, the story is actually really well done. The game has a lot more voice acting and the story is more explicitly told than other FromSoft games, but it still has some of that mysterious charm that only Miyazaki can deliver. I don't think the game will lack its share of lore videos. The game has multiple endings, but I won't go into this any further, for fear of spoilers.

CONCLUSION - In a sentence, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an incredible action game, but some of the boss fights and mechanics detract from the experience. I hope this review somehow helped somebody. Keep in mind that this is only one person's opinion, and other's experiences with the game will differ greatly. If you love hard games, I don't think you can go wrong with this one.…Expand

Score 10 or 9 for this ??? Sorry but NO i don't understand what some fanboys are thinking the game has clunky controls married with a boring parry system (without a gamepad it's even worse) also the game story is just bare bones with forgettable NPCs and most enemies are very repetitive (it's like killing the same guys over and over again). The is like a indie game made from some poorScore 10 or 9 for this ??? Sorry but NO i don't understand what some fanboys are thinking the game has clunky controls married with a boring parry system (without a gamepad it's even worse) also the game story is just bare bones with forgettable NPCs and most enemies are very repetitive (it's like killing the same guys over and over again). The is like a indie game made from some poor company.....…Expand

This game is perfect! Is it hard? HELL yeah! But boy is it satisfying, when after many hours of learning a boss' mechanics and at first lightning-quick attack patterns you score that sweet sweet killing blow. Don't listen to the negative reviewers, they are precious snowflakes that start crying when they don't get God of War powers on easy-mode. Buy the game, struggle and at the end; knowThis game is perfect! Is it hard? HELL yeah! But boy is it satisfying, when after many hours of learning a boss' mechanics and at first lightning-quick attack patterns you score that sweet sweet killing blow. Don't listen to the negative reviewers, they are precious snowflakes that start crying when they don't get God of War powers on easy-mode. Buy the game, struggle and at the end; know that you did it!…Expand

The game is fine. The story invites you to continue playing. The difficulty is high and I like that. But Port to PC has a lot of bugs. Enemies see me through walls or mountains. The controller does not work correctly, and if I play with a keyboard on the screen it shows me the controller controls.
In combat, often blocking without losing posture enemies damage me. The same if deviation orThe game is fine. The story invites you to continue playing. The difficulty is high and I like that. But Port to PC has a lot of bugs. Enemies see me through walls or mountains. The controller does not work correctly, and if I play with a keyboard on the screen it shows me the controller controls.
In combat, often blocking without losing posture enemies damage me. The same if deviation or blocking. The selection of enemies fails continuously, mainly in bosses. The game needs a patch urgently.…Expand

So much anticipation yet so much disappointment. It's decent game, especially if you're willing to wait for a sale, however it really doesn't live up to a hype it got.

Pros:
- Story and lore - tho I'm not fan of direct storytelling. I preferred Bloodborne and Dark Souls storytelling where you have dig deep to figure out what's going on and why, but it's good enough,
- Good musicSo much anticipation yet so much disappointment. It's decent game, especially if you're willing to wait for a sale, however it really doesn't live up to a hype it got.

Pros:
- Story and lore - tho I'm not fan of direct storytelling. I preferred Bloodborne and Dark Souls storytelling where you have dig deep to figure out what's going on and why, but it's good enough,
- Good music score, not on the level of DS3 or BB, but fits the setting very well, builds tension and does other things good music score supposed to do.
- Level design - it's just great, high versatility, a lot of things to discover, use environment to your advantage
- challenge and difficulty - here they did not **** up. It will put you to the test like hell.

Cons:
- Combat is just not good for one simple reason. Everything is based on breaking posture by spamming attack (on weaker enemies) or deflecting and countering stronger enemies - rinse and repeat, it's just tedious and boring. On some rare occasion you can get leverage with one of special tools you unlock - but that's about it.
- Character building is very simplistic, basically on the level of older Assassin's Creed games - find thing X to unlock tool, plus you have few skills to unlock at your disposal - that's it. There are no weapons to find, no armor to find - all the loot are upgrade components and consumables - which feels just very linear without any impactful decision making.
-Graphics look dated, tho some of the artstyle is pretty good and there are some weird fps drops out of thin air (I suspect it has something to do with poor LOD and texture streaming), no ultra-wide support, game doesn't tolerate 2nd monitor and will cut performance severely until you unplug it, there are also some issues on Intel CPUs where having turbo boost enabled hinders performance severely - so pretty mediocre PC port to say the least.
- Can't see any replay value (except maybe speed running) - because as I mentioned there is not enough diversity in character building (you won't make a different build to enjoy different combat experience - everything is just to thin and basic), there is no online component (so obviously no pvp) - there is just nothing worthwhile for a second playthrough to be seen.

So yeah, don't believe all those 9s and 10s out of 10. The game is nowhere near on the brilliance of Dark Souls or Bloodborne. It feels like watered down and streamlined action game with very little diversity and choice making at your disposal. If not technical issues and piss poor PC port lacking basic features that should be standard in 2019, I'd give it 7/10, but with technical issues and other problems I mentioned in cons section - 6/10 is max I can rate it. Note: 6/10 means it's a pretty decent game but with some problems. See the difference is - for IGN and other crap outlets, 6/10 is equal to garbage game - personally I utilize full scale and thus it means it's not bad game at all - more like disappointing a bit.

There’s no leveling (in Soulsborne sense of the word), no covenants, no multiplayer, no variety in armor and weapons. It could be written off a stylistic choice, if the rest of the game didn’t feel very similar to the previous FromSoftware games. But it does, so Sekrio comes across as rather shallow. [Issue#237, p.28]

Sekiro Shadows Die Twice is a milestone in the genre. It offers complex, stunning and precise sword fights and duels that its predecessors lacked, and from which its successors will have to keep up with. You no longer simply learn by repeatedly and unfairly dying, but you refine your talents as a player. You seek unique methods to overcome each boss, rather than just rolling at the right time before spamming a few hits.

Dozens of hours later, we're still not sure how we feel about it. It's a game of contradictions, open and flexible in its level design, yet resolutely strict in its combat... It is a brilliant game, that is certain. but it is often a difficult one to truly love. Naturally, we can't put it down. [Issue#332, p.104]